Anglo-German Relations: A Le Mans Legend Returns

Next Chapter >

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a race that should need no introduction.

This gruelling endurance event has been testing drivers and teams since 1923, and simultaneously, challenging manufacturers to improve on race car technology in the name of gaining competitive superiority.

In 1980, Porsche entered three 924 GTPs into the fiercely competitive Prototype class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, each piloted by teams from Germany, the UK and America, and each wrapped in corresponding liveries to represent the nationalities of their drivers.

Following the race, the car piloted by Tony Dron and Andy Rouse, and known as 924 GTP 002, was returned to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart and placed into storage, not to be touched for some 35 years. To this day, it’s still the only Porsche-owned race car to compete under British colours.

In 2015, Porsche commissioned a full restoration of the car by Porsche Classic Partners in the UK, to commemorate the 40-year anniversary of the 924. The restoration focused on returning the car to the condition and specification as it would have been when it first arrived at Le Mans in 1980. When the car arrived in the UK, the restoration team uncovered some interesting developments: for example, the car was fitted with a later engine from 1982. It seems someone at Stuttgart had been tinkering and testing with 924 GTP 002 while it was in storage.

Check out the video above to take a look at how the car looked prior to its restoration.

Getting to see and experience such an important part of Porsche motorsport history in person, and in this condition, is something truly special. Spotting the car at the recent Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble event, the first major draw of the GTP – and it happened from afar believe me – is the liveried wide bodywork. I can smell a wide turbocharged Porsche race car on turbofans a mile away.

Based on a production Carrera GT bodyshell, designated Type 937, the chassis was stiffened with a rollcage and lightened with wider composite panels. The front end was made more aerodynamic, while an effort was made to keep the shape recognisable as a 924.

Titanium components were used throughout the GTP’s chassis and suspension, adding rigidity and shaving vital kilograms off.

Under each front fender sits a 16×11-inch BBS wheel, while the rears are 16×12-inch, and all are complete with functional turbofans, and shod in wide slick tyres.

Under the bonnet, which was carefully placed to one side for passers-by to enjoy the GTP’s mechanical workings, lives a redesigned water-cooled four cylinder 2.0-litre KKK-turbocharged powerplant capable of outputting 320hp at 7,000rpm. Part of the restoration, and it seems by a healthy dollop of luck, involved reuniting the car with its original 1980 Le Mans engine – the very same engine – which had somehow ended up with a collector in Czechoslovakia.

Lots of innovative technology went into propelling the 924 GTP around Le Mans, including a charge-air intercooler, mechanical Bosch/Kugelfischer fuel injection, and dry sump lubrication. These components, along with a large fuel cell under the boot floor, ensured that the car spent as little time as possible in the pits during race conditions.

The success of the 924 GTP in Le Mans inspired Porsche to create the desirable 924 GTS and über-rare GTR editions, cementing the manufacturer’s commitment to closely link its race and road car productions.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday – it’s an approach that I, for one, hope never fades away.

Comments

20 comments

Hey Jordan, a little puzzled by the engine here. I thought Porsche GB managed to find the original 2.0L engine when they were restoring 924 GTP-002. The engine pictured certainly looks like the Audi based iron-block four, not the 2.5L engine later used in the 944. Take a look at Paul's 924 Turbo you featured in March- this engine looks substantially more like that one than it does the 1981 2.5L race engine or the production 944 engines. Porsche's site still describes the engine in this car as a 2.0L, see below:

The aluminum inline-four used in '81 is a pretty different(and physically larger) powerplant. You can loosely call it the prototype for the 944 engine, but the head is radically different to both the 2.5L 8v in the regular 944 and the 2.5L/3.0L 16v engine in the 944S, S2 and 968. A link to a picture of that engine is below:

The 16v GTP engine uses the timing belt to drive both the intake and exhaust cams, while the production 16v engines just drive the exhaust cam, and use a small timing chain under the cam cover to drive the intake cam. The race engine is a wild thing!

Interesting – the spec sheet on the car spoke of the 2.5-litre engine being fitted.

However, some further digging has revealed the confusion with the spec sheet, so I've updated the story to represent this. When the car was retrieved from the archives in Stuttgart it did indeed have the later engine in it, but no-one seems to know why. The restoration reunited it with its original 2.0-litre unit. Good spot Chris – and it makes the story of 924 GTP 002 even more interesting!

I'm a 944 fan! The engines share virtually nothing, as the 2.5L aluminum engine is derived from the 928's V8, while the earlier engine is closely related to the Audi 100's engine. The Porsche 924 Turbos had a unique cylinder head though.

the fc rx7 is sort of a rotary copy of the 924. even the interiour looks kind of like a copy. still means it is a great car. the fd3s is kind of the best rotary car mazda did build. sadly they came at the wrong time and it is next to impossible to find one with climate control and left hand drive.

You're writing better than 99% of the people on this site. Might be time for a career change. Keep in touch buddy...

Share

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS

PRESENTATION MODE

DOWNLOAD WALLPAPER

ORDER PRINT

SHARE

About Us

Speedhunters is an international collective of photographers, writers & drivers with a shared passion for uncovering the world's most exciting car culture stories.

Contact Us

We're always very interested to hear your own stories as well as to receive your feedback. Please take a look at our FAQ first but if you don't find what you are looking for then you are welcome to contact us via email, thank you.